Index-cutter



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(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 2.

W B'RAIDWOOD.

INDEX CUTTER.

No. 417,536. Patented Dec. 17, 1889;

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W. BRAIDWO-OD. INDEX CUTTER.

No. 417,536'. Patented Dec. 17, 1889.

A T TOR/YE 73 4 Sheets-Sheet 4..

(No Model.)

W. BRAIDWOOD. INDEX GUTTEB. No. 417,536. Patented Dec. 1'7, 188 9.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM BRAIDWOOD, OF MOUNT VERNON, YORK.

INDEX-CUTTER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Fatent No. 417,536, dated December 17, 1889. Application filed January 12, 1889- Serial No. 295,985. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I .-WILLIAM BRAIDWOOD, a citizen of the United States, residing at Mount Vernon, in the county of W'estchester and State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Index-Gutters,

fication and claims, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a front elevation of an indexcutte'r. Fig. 2 is an end elevation of Fig; 1, partly in section. Fig. 3 is a section along the line x m, Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a section along the line y y, Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a detail elevation of a rack. Fig. 6 is a plan View of Fig. 5.- Fig. 7 is a detail plan view of a modified form of rack. Fig. 8 is a section along the line 2 2, Fig. 7. Fig. 9 is a section along the line 00 as, Fig. 7.

Similar letters indicate corresponding parts.

In the drawings, the letter A indicates a frame or support. B B are shafts connected by bevel-gears G C with a shaft D, which can be rotated by a hand-wheel E, so as to turn the shafts B.

. Said shafts B carry arms or cams F, on which rests a table G, for supporting the book or pamphlet H the index of which is to be cut. The table G has guide-arms I, adapted to slide in holes K. As the wheel E is turned one way or the other, the shafts B B are actuated so as to move the cams Fto raise or lower the table G. WVhen the table is adjusted to the required height, the detent M is allowed to catch the toothed wheel L, whereby the table is kept from sinking or sliding down. V By having the table vertically adjustable books of different thicknesses can be brought into position to be properly operated on.

.The shafts B B, cams F, and table G are mounted on'a carriage N, adapted to travel along ways 0. The carriage N has a feedrack P, engaged by a gear-wheel Q, about the shaft B. of which is wound a cord or chain S, connected to a spring or weight T, the pull of which tends to rotate the wheel Q and to feed the carriage N with the table G. From the carriage N rise standards U, on which is supported a bar or rest b, which carries a joint or pivot V, Fig. 1, about which swings a clamping-bar NV. The catch X, Fig. 2, on the rest 1), holds the free end of the bar W. A spring Y holds the catch X in engagement with the bar, and a handle Z enables the catch X to be drawn against the resistance of the spring'Y, so as to release the bar W, whereupon the spring a throws the bar W up about the joint or pivot V. When the bar W is locked by the catch X, said bar is held against the rest I), and by clamping the bookleaves to be operated on between the bar W and rest 12 said leaves are firmly held so that they can be accurately operated on. The bar W and rest Z) thus form a leaf-holder for holding the book-leaves operated, on. The rest I) can be adjusted on the standards U by the screwsQ, passing through suitable slots in the standards.

The carriage N has a ledge 0, having a slot d. A detent-rack e is secured by screws or bolts f to the ledge c, and the slot 01 enables the rack e to be adjusted along the ledge to any suitable position. A detent or pawl g engages the rack e and prevents the weight T from feeding the carriage N, except at such intervals as the pawl g may release the detent-rack e. The pawl g is supported on a lever 2', swinging about a fulcrum h. The rod It connects with the lever z', and said rod is momentarily depressed at certain intervals by the tappet Z, rotating with the shaft m. As the rod is is depressed, the leveriis swung so as to move the pawl 9 out of engagement with the rack e, and as said tappet Z swings past the rod k the spring at, Fig. .1, at once carries the pawl 9 back into engagement with the rack e. The disengagement of the pawl g is long enough to allow the weight T to feed the carriage N a sufficient distance, so that the pawl g will engage the next succeeding rack-tooth on said pawl again coming into engagement with the rack. A step-bystep motion is thus given to the carriage N. The teeth of the rack e are formed, as seen in Fig. 5, so that the pawl g will hold the rack 6 against motion in the direction inwhich the weight T feeds the carriage N; but when said carriage has passed to the end of: such feed it can be readily returned to its starting-point by turning the shaft R by the hand' wheel 3, so as to wind up the cord R, and during such motion of the carriage N and the rack c the pawl g glides over the rackteeth.

As the carriage N may have to be fed for dilferent lengths for each step, according as larger or smaller indexes or work is to be done, a series of racks having different sizes or lengths of teeth are provided, and a rack with larger or shorter teeth is secured to the ledge c, as required by the work. In Fig. 7 a rack is shown having teeth of considerable length. As the carriage N may acquire considerable velocity in traveling the length of such a tooth, a brake mechanism is provided to check such velocity and prevent consequent jars. Said brake mechanism is shown formed as follows: At a side of the rack is a series of inclines 0, against which a roller 1) is pressed by a spring q. The pressure of the roller 1) against the inclines 0 prevents the rack e and carriage N from acquiring too great velocity. A nut or screw 9 enables the arm carrying the roller 1) to be adjusted toward or from the rack 6, so that the brake action of the roller 1) is regulated.

To the shaft m is secured a cam t, which depresses a frame a, carrying a cutter or blade. The two parts v r of the cutter areplaced at an angle to one another, so that the cutter will clip out a suitable strip along part of the edge of the book-leaf, so as to leave a projecting portion of the leaf, on which an index letter, number, or character can be placed. Said cutter t acts againsta countercutter or blade 10, fixed to the frame. Said cutters c 10 act with a shearing motion, so as to make a clean cut. Vhen the cutter c is released from the action of the cam z, the lever A, actuated by the spring B, carries the cutter v to its startingpoint. The screw C enables the tension of the spring A to be regulated.

The leaf-support D supports the leaf along that portion of the edge which is not acted on by the cutter, thus preventing sagging or bending of the leaf, whereby the accuracy of the work might be injured. The leaf-support D is secured to a slide E, and while the cutter acts on a leaf said slide is held toward the table G, so that the edge of the leaf will rest on the support. hen said leaf has been cut, the lever F is oscillated about its fulcrum II by the low portion of the cam G on shaft on coming opposite to said lever, whereupon the spring I oscillates the lever F so as to draw the support D away from the table G, and the' edge of the leaf just cut drops down beneath the support D. The high part of the cam G then acts on the lever F, and the support D is moved toward the table G into position to support the edge of the next leaf to be cut.

The shaft m has a clutch K connected to the lever L, having the link 3 connected to the treadle I)". By actuating the. treadle the clutch K is thrown into engagement with its counterclutch O on the driving-pulleyP. The shaft m can thus be rapidly actuated or allowed to come to rest.

The device operates as follows: The book or pamphlet II has the number of leaves to be operated upon (say 26 leaves, corresponding to the number of letters in the alphabet),

clamped in the leaf-holder, and the edge of the first leaf to be cut is allowed to rest on the support D, the other leaf-edges being held up out of the way by the operator. The cutter then cuts out a port-ion of the leafedge, whereupon the support D swings out of the way and said leaf-edge is pressed down beneath the support D by the cutter '0 continuing its downward movement. The cutter r then rises and the support D swings back to its supporting position, when the next leaf is allowed to rest its edge on the support D. At the same time, the pawl g having been oscillated, the weight T has fed the table G one step, so that such next leaf will have a greater portion cut out along its edge than the preceding leaf. Each book-leaf is thus operated on in succession until the entire number of leaves has been cut.

The slide E, which carries the leaf-support D, is made into two parts, Fig. 2, the upper part being adjustable on the lower part, so that the support D can be set nearer to or farther from the table G, as required by the depth of the index.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In an index-cutter, the combination,with a vertically-movable table G, of adjustingcams for said table, an actuating-shaft D for said cams, and a detent for preventing retrograde motion of said cams, substantially as pass out of reach of the knives, substantially as described.

3. In an index-cutter, the combination, with a table, of an oscillating leaf-support made adjustable toward and from the table, substantially as described.

4. In an index-cutter, the combination, with the cutters, of a rest-bar 1), adjustable laterally to and from the cutters, a clampingbar V, pivoted adjacent to one end to the rest-bar to swing in a vertical plane to and from the rest-bar, and means, substantially as described, for holding the clamping-bar in its clamping position and automatically swinging said bar vertically when released, substantially as described.

5. In an index-cutter, the combination, with the cutters, of a carriage N, having standards U, the rest-bar 1), adjustable laterally on the standards to and from the cutters, the clamping-bar IV, pivoted to the rest-bar to swing in a vertical plane, a catch for holding the f re end of the clamping-barin its clampingiposidetent-rack e and a feed-rack P, a pawl c, en-

gaging and holding the feed-rack stationary, a rotating shaft m, having a rotating tappet or cam for disengaging the pawl from the detent-rack, a gear-Wheel Q, engaging the feedrack, and having a shaft and a feed-weight T acting on the gear-wheel shaft to intermittently advance the feed-rack, carriage, and table as the pawl is released from the detentrack, substantially as described.

8. In an index-cutter, the combination, with a table and a feed-weight T for said table, of

ade'tent-rack 6, provided with brake-teeth o, a brake-roller 19, made to engage said braketeeth, a pawl for said rack, and a cam or actuator for said pawl, substantially as described.

9. In an index-cutter, the combination, with the cutters, of a table-carriage having a lateral inwardly-projecting ledge c, the detachable and interchangeable detent-racks e for said ledge, for changing the extent of motion of the table-carriage, a pawl g, for engaging and holding the detent-racks, a rod is, the rotating shaft m, having a tappet or cam l, for

operating the rod to release the pawl, and a feed-weight T, for intermittently advancing the table-carriage and racks, substantially as described. In testimony, whereof Ihave hereunto set my hand and seal in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

WILLIAM BRAIDWVOQD. [L. 5.]

Witnesses: M

WILLIAM (J. HAUFF, ERNST F. KASTENHUBER. 

